Emergency Management Services of King County

The E-911 public education program focuses on educating the public on the appropriate use of 9-1-1. This program has proven to be effective in reducing the overall number of 9-1-1 calls over the years and in reducing the number of inappropriate 9-1-1 calls. The public is encouraged to call 9-1-1 when they need an emergency response from police, fire, or emergency medical personnel. If general information or non-emergency assistance is needed, non-emergency telephone numbers for police and fire departments or other government services should be called. The non-emergency telephone numbers for police and fire departments are printed on the front cover of most telephone directories, and are also available along with other government listings in the blue pages of the directories.

Public Education Materials

The E-911 Program Office produces a variety of public education materials and brochures, including items that help to make non-emergency telephone numbers more accessible. These include:

9-1-1 Service (English) (PDF - 3 pages)
9-1-1 Service (Español) (104 KB PDF - 3 pages)
9-1-1 (Large Print) (440 KB PDF - 4 pages)
9-1-1 Service for Wireless Phones (PDF - 2 pages)
Internet/Broadband Phones Public Safety Message (343 KB PDF - 3 pages)
Private Telephone System (PBX) Incompatibility with 9-1-1 (446 KB PDF - 4 pages)

Also available:

Refrigerator Magnets
Telephone Stickers

A variety of public education materials are available to teach children about 9-1-1. These include:

9-1-1 Coloring Book (pre-school - grade 1, English and Spanish)
Adventures of Safe T. Cat and Dina Dialer 9-1-1 Activity Book (grades 2-6)
Stickers
911 showbags

All of these public education materials are available for use within King County at no cost. Residents may obtain these materials from their local police and fire departments, or from the E-911 Program Office upon request.

Accidental Dialing of 9-1-1 on Wireless Phones

There has been a recent focus to educate the public on the problem of wireless phones calling 9-1-1 when they are bumped or sat on accidentally. About 30 percent of wireless 9-1-1 calls are caused by accidental dialing. Wireless phone users can help to prevent accidental 9-1-1 dialing by following the steps below:

LOCK your keypad when the phone is not in use.
TURN OFF the 9-1-1 auto-dial feature if your phone came with this feature activated.
DO NOT program 9-1-1 into your speed dial; 9-1-1 services are already accessible by dialing three digits. It is much more difficult to accidentally dial three digits in the proper sequence than to simply bump one button.
DO NOT give old phones to children as toys. Phones with no service can still dial 9-1-1.

More information on wireless phones and 9-1-1.

For emergencies call 9-1-1. For non-emergencies call your local police or fire department. If you have any questions regarding the E-911 Public Education Program please contact Liza Zamudio at our main office.

No part of the designs, illustrations, photography or related graphics used in the King County E-911 Program Public Education Materials may be copied, reproduced, used, distributed or redistributed in any form (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems) for any purpose without the express written permissions of Roz & Co., LLC.

Text and information content is developed and distributed by the King County E-911 Program Office and available for use by the general public for the purpose of furthering public education.